• Subscribe Now
  • Today In History
  • Wars & Events
    • The Russia–Ukraine War
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Cold War
    • Korean War
    • Vietnam War
    • Global War on Terror
    • Movements
      • Women’s Rights
      • Civil Rights
      • Abolition of Slavery
  • Famous People
    • U.S. Presidents
    • World Leaders
    • Military Leaders
    • Outlaws & Lawmen
    • Activists
    • Artists & Writers
    • Celebrities
    • Scientists
    • Philosophers
  • Eras
    • Modern Era
      • 2000s
      • 1900s
      • 1800s
    • Early Modern
      • 1700s
      • 1600s
      • 1500s
    • The Middle Ages
    • Classical Era
    • Prehistory
  • Topics
    • Black History
    • Slavery
    • Women’s History
    • Prisoners of War
    • Firsthand Accounts
    • Technology & Weaponry
    • Aviation & Spaceflight
    • Naval & Maritime
    • Politics
    • Military History
    • Art & Literature
    • News
    • Entertainment & Culture
    • Historical Figures
    • Photography
    • Wild West
    • Social History
    • Native American History
  • Magazines
    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Skip to content
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
HistoryNet

HistoryNet

The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet.

  • Subscribe Now
  • Today In History
  • Wars & Events
    • The Russia–Ukraine War
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Cold War
    • Korean War
    • Vietnam War
    • Global War on Terror
    • Movements
      • Women’s Rights
      • Civil Rights
      • Abolition of Slavery
  • Famous People
    • U.S. Presidents
    • World Leaders
    • Military Leaders
    • Outlaws & Lawmen
    • Activists
    • Artists & Writers
    • Celebrities
    • Scientists
    • Philosophers
  • Eras
    • Modern Era
      • 2000s
      • 1900s
      • 1800s
    • Early Modern
      • 1700s
      • 1600s
      • 1500s
    • The Middle Ages
    • Classical Era
    • Prehistory
  • Topics
    • Black History
    • Slavery
    • Women’s History
    • Prisoners of War
    • Firsthand Accounts
    • Technology & Weaponry
    • Aviation & Spaceflight
    • Naval & Maritime
    • Politics
    • Military History
    • Art & Literature
    • News
    • Entertainment & Culture
    • Historical Figures
    • Photography
    • Wild West
    • Social History
    • Native American History
  • Magazines
    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasts
Posted inReview

Wild West Book Review: Red Light Women

by Amy Chan3/26/2018
Share This Article

Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains

by Jan MacKell, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2009, $34.95.

Coloradan author Jan MacKell has expanded her horizontal horizons with a book about Rocky Mountain whores. Back in 2004 she raised a few heads with her Brothels, Bordellos and Bad Girls: Prostitution in Colorado, 1860– 1930. This broader perspective five years later introduces the reader to a slew of new women as MacKell, director of the Cripple Creek District Museum, delves into the history of prostitution and its effects on the West. In many places, the red-light districts did a booming business, so certainly not every diligent practitioner of the profession could find her way into a book of 458 pages. “The ladies in this book have great stories to tell, sometimes sad and tragic, sometimes happy and funny,” MacKell writes in the preface. “Their race for a hard-earned place in these pages has been well run, but I selected every single one of them because she was special in some way and best suited to give a good understanding of the prostitution industry’s place in the American West.”

Frontier prostitutes don’t all fit one mold, but certainly they had to bring a combination of tenderness and toughness to the table and bed. The author found they were usually single women, varying in age from 14 to 40-plus, who faced frequent brushes with the law, venereal disease, alcohol and drug addiction, physical abuse and unwanted pregnancies. “They strived to leave the business eventually and did so by marriage, retirement or death,” writes MacKell. “Many, such as restaurant owner and middle-aged widow Amelia Rucker of Tombstone, Arizona, supplemented their main income by working part time as a prostitute.” Others profiled include Mary “Chicago Joe” Welch, who in the 1870s adroitly ran a brothel in Helena, Montana Territory; Big Nose Kate, who sometimes made Doc Holliday happy in Arizona Territory; Mattie Silks, Denver’s most notorious madam; Sadie Orchard, whose British accent added class to Sadie’s Place in remote Hillsboro, New Mexico Territory; and Gertrudis “La Tules” Barcelo, the most celebrated courtesan in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory.

Leading with a chapter on the dawn of prostitution, MacKell looks at the soiled doves in the various geographic areas, sparking such alliterative chapter headings as “Amazons of Arizona,” “Courtesans of Colorado,” “Illicit Ladies of Idaho,” “Madams and other Women of Montana,” “The Undoing of Utah’s Soiled Doves” and finally “Wicked Women of Wyoming.” More than 100 historic photos accompany the text, ranging from one of hefty madam Lou Bunch lounging in a gown in Central City, Colo., to an eye-catching shot of a naked whore who keeps her “modesty” by doing some amazing large card tricks. For time travelers interested in doing further research, the author provides appendixes listing prostitutes in Leadville, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo., both in 1880, and in Butte, Mont., in 1902. The Rocky Mountain prostitution industry, the author says, sprouted, flourished and died between 1825 and 1988. Of course, in nearby Nevada, prostitution remains legal in some counties, but this book does not go there—leaving the bedroom door open to a third book on the subject by MacKell.

 

Originally published in the October 2009 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. 

Share This Article
by Amy Chan

Amy Chan is a former HistoryNet intern.

more by Amy Chan

Citation information

Amy Chan (5/16/2025) Wild West Book Review: Red Light Women. HistoryNet Retrieved from https://www.historynet.com/wild-west-book-review-red-light-women/.
"Wild West Book Review: Red Light Women."Amy Chan - 5/16/2025, https://www.historynet.com/wild-west-book-review-red-light-women/
Amy Chan 3/26/2018 Wild West Book Review: Red Light Women., viewed 5/16/2025,<https://www.historynet.com/wild-west-book-review-red-light-women/>
Amy Chan - Wild West Book Review: Red Light Women. [Internet]. [Accessed 5/16/2025]. Available from: https://www.historynet.com/wild-west-book-review-red-light-women/
Amy Chan. "Wild West Book Review: Red Light Women." Amy Chan - Accessed 5/16/2025. https://www.historynet.com/wild-west-book-review-red-light-women/
"Wild West Book Review: Red Light Women." Amy Chan [Online]. Available: https://www.historynet.com/wild-west-book-review-red-light-women/. [Accessed: 5/16/2025]

Related stories

Stories

Portfolio: Images of War as Landscape

Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, […]

Stories

Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot

In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.

Pony Express National Historic Trail in Wyoming
Portfolio

This Patient Rider Spent Months Retracing the Pony Express on Horseback

In 2019 Will Grant embarked on a 142-day, 2,000-mile horseback journey from the Pony Express stables in St. Joseph, Mo., to trail’s end in Sacramento, Calif.

Buffalo Bill Cody
Stories

10 Pivotal Events in the Life of Buffalo Bill

William Frederick Cody (1846-1917) led a signal life, from his youthful exploits with the Pony Express and in service as a U.S. Army scout to his globetrotting days as a showman and international icon Buffalo Bill.

HistoryNet
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”

David McCullough, author of “1776”

HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the world’s largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines.

Our Magazines

  • American History
  • America’s Civil War
  • Aviation History
  • Civil War Times
  • Military History
  • Military History Quarterly
  • Vietnam
  • Wild West
  • World War II

About Us

  • What Is HistoryNet.com?
  • Advertise With Us
  • Careers
  • Meet Our Staff!

Stay Curious

Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians.

sign me up!

© 2025 HistoryNet.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service